Veteran forward Mark Mancari recorded his first hat trick of the season and David Leggio stopped 27 of 28 shots as the Rochester Americans kicked off the second half of the 2012-13 campaign with a 5-1 win over the Toronto Marlies Friday night at The Blue Cross Arena. The win closes out a perfect four-game homestand for the Amerks and gives Rochester its first win this season over the Marlies after dropping the previous five meetings between the North Division foes.
Kevin Porter (1+2) and Brayden McNabb (0+3), who each represented the Amerks at the 2013 AHL All-Star Classic earlier this week in Providence, each notched three points apiece in the win, while Evan Rankin rounded out the scoring for Rochester, which has won nine of its last 11 games at home.
Jerry D’Amigo provided Toronto’s lone goal and Jussi Rynnas made 24 saves in the loss for the Marlies, who have dropped three straight and six of their last seven games.
Mancari spotted the Amerks to a 1-0 lead just 5:54 into the contest, deflecting Nick Crawford’s shot from the left point to the top of net for his 12th of the season. Crawford made a nice play at the blueline to keep the play alive and sent a quick shot toward the goal-mouth, where Mancari was able to steer it to the upper right corner.
With the goal, Mancari leapfrogged T.J. Brennan for the team lead in scoring with his 36th point and extended his current point streak to four games. Mancari, who now shows 194 career points as an Amerk, ranks 31st all-time in scoring in franchise history, surpassing current Buffalo Sabres captain Jason Pominville and tying Amerks Hall of Famer Rick Pagnutti.
Courtesy Rochester Americans
